Dream Walker
by DOJ
Summary: There's a new mutant in Bayville who can project images into others' minds, but each of the X-men already seem to have problems of their own...JeanScott, KittyLance, KurtAmanda, etc.
1. The First Longings

Hey~~ I don't own any of this, I wish I did, but I really don't. Only the ideas that haven't already appeared in the show are mine ^_^ Please read and review! Constructive criticism is GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks~~~  
  
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Misty tendrils crept around the room, wrapping around her arms and legs, tugging at her until she could no longer resist the pressure, and she fell. It was as though the ledge had just slipped out from underneath her feet, she was falling, falling, falling."Get a grip!" She ordered herself, "You can handle this, levitate!" but though she willed with all her might, her powers would not come; she could not prevent the fall. Letting out a blood- curdling shriek, she closed her eyes, but the hard impact of her body against the ground never came, instead, she fell into two strong arms that immediately curled around her writhing body.  
  
"Jean! Jean, wake-up!" a worried voice called through the mist, wrenching her eyes open.  
  
Panting, Jean Grey looked around her room, her room.she wasn't falling, she was safe in her room. As the realization hit, Jean relaxed her tense body, leaning back into the strong arms that she hadn't noticed were around her. Terrified, she gazed up into Scott Summer's concerned face.  
  
"Jean, are you alright?"  
  
"I-I'm fine, it was just a nightmare, I. . . what are you doing here?"  
  
Scott seemed taken aback by the question, "I heard you scream," he stated as though it were the most obvious answer imaginable, "I. . . I thought you might be in trouble." He shifted his gaze uneasily back to her, remembering the incident a few months ago when the girls had rebelled, sick of the boys thinking they needed to be rescued.  
  
But Jean only sighed, shaking her head, "It was a dream, nothing more."  
  
When he realized that this thought had not crossed her mind he rushed on. "I came running in here and you were levitating about 2 meters above your bed, you started falling and. . . I caught you. Jean, are you sure you're ok? Maybe we should tell the Professor. . . "  
  
"Scott, I'm fine." She spoke defiantly, glancing at her clock she added, "I think I'm going to go shower, I needed to be up anyways." Stealing one more look at Scott's unconvinced face she whispered, "Thanks for being there, Scott, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't caught me." Then, slipping out of his arms, she swiftly kissed his cheek and headed towards her bathroom, leaving a bewildered Scott behind.  
  
Once in her bathroom, Jean closed the door behind her, quickly turning her lock. She began to walk over to the shower when a haunting memory flickered in her mind; in the dream she didn't have any powers. Taking in a deep breath, Jean closed her sparkling green eyes, stretched out her hand, and focused all of her concentration on the shower, twisting the knob in her mind. The knob swiveled fast as jets of water came flying out of the shower's faucet. Finally relaxing, she murmured to herself, "It was just a dream, nothing but a dream. . . " Turning her attention to her reflection she grimaced. Her red hair was plastered to her forehead, her short blue nightgown clung tightly to her legs and its yellow collar was rimmed with sweat. 'I can't believe Scott had to see me like this.' She thought to herself. 'Oh, come on,' a voice inside her head replied, 'he's seen you look a lot worse than this.' Smiling at the idea, Jean pulled off her nightgown and as the first drops of water splashed onto her tired face she wondered if he was still sitting out on her bed, touching his cheek in amazement.  
  
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Evan Daniels groped through the fridge, looking for the orange juice carton.  
  
*POOF*  
  
"Hey, grab me some milk while you're in there." A think German accent appeared out of nowhere.  
  
Whirling around in surprise, three spikes shot out of Evan's arm, lodging themselves in the archway just above Scott's approaching head. "Jeez, Kurt! Give a guy some warning! Sorry, Scott." He added to a shaking Scott who just nodded, unable to speak.  
  
"Sorry, I forgot you're not as used to me as the others." Kurt apologized as he tapped on his image-inducer, transforming from his fuzzy blue appearance to his human one.  
  
The three boys settled into their seats at the kitchen table just as Kitty Pryde and Rogue entered the room, deep in their heated conversation.  
  
"I still can't believe you're dating one of them Brotherhood jerks, I don't know what you see in him." Rogue's southern drawl rang out.  
  
"Yeah, but Lance is like, so sweet! He totally saved my life.twice!"  
  
"Yeah, both of which incidents were his fault."  
  
"Not his, those other losers in the Brotherhood. Besides," Kitty shot Rogue a dark look, her pony-tail bouncing angrily, "You almost were one of them." She stalked out of the room as Rogue huffily fell into a chair.  
  
The three guys exchanged wary glances, knowing all too well not to get involved in the girls' affairs.  
  
"Evan, want a ride to school?" Kurt Wagner asked, still trying to make up for startling Evan earlier.  
  
"Nah, takin' the old-fashioned way," Evan gestured towards the skateboard propped up against the window seat. "You have got to learn how to board!"  
  
"Ah, no thanks, I think I'll stick to teleporting," he gave a quick wave before disappearing, leaving a lingering cloud of blue smoke.  
  
"Later!" Evan yelled over his shoulder as he tore out of the kitchen, skateboard in hand.  
  
Scott turned to Rogue and broke the silence that remained between the two, "Well, I guess that's my cue. . . need a ride?"  
  
"Naw, Risty's picking me up."  
  
"Right, later." He strolled out to the hallway where he collided with a disoriented Jean. She stumbled, dropping her books and collapsing in his arms. "We've got to quit meeting like this," he joked, breaking the tense silence.  
  
"Sorry," she gasped, "I guess I wasn't paying any attention." But she made no move to stand on her own, and he made no sign that he wanted to let her go. Staring into his dark shades, Jean felt her heart flutter. His arms felt so perfect around her. She wondered why she'd never noticed it before.  
  
"Jean," Scott's voice came out huskier and deeper than usual, "Jean, I-"  
  
Pulling quickly out of his embrace, Jean spoke in a rush, "we should probably go, I don't want to be late." She knelt to the ground; picking up her scattered books and trying to hide the blush flaming in her cheeks.  
  
"Yeah, you're right," Scott joined the act. He collected the rest of her books and, pulling her up, handed them to her. "Do you want a ride to school?"  
  
"That'd be great," she answered breathlessly.  
  
Placing his hands on her shoulders he steered her towards his car, mentally practicing what he could say to her on the drive to school. They'd just stepped into the car when an obnoxious horn blared from the driveway. Glancing up, Scott's grin faded from his face.  
  
"Duncan," Jean stated dully as the horn blared again, "I should probably go, thanks for the offer, can I get a rain check on that?" she asked, rekindling Scott's dampened hopes.  
  
"Yeah, sure. . . "  
  
"Thanks," the horn rang out once more, "I'm COMING!" She stalked off, yelling indecipherable things to Duncan Matthews.  
  
Scott sighed as he pulled out of the driveway, slowly fallowing Duncan's car. He had been so close to admitting his feelings to Jean, so close to seeing if she felt the same way. Maybe Duncan showing up was for the best, what if Jean hadn't felt the same way? Scott shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the confusion. Duncan didn't' deserve Jean, he didn't even notice that something was bothering his girlfriend, even though it was so obvious that Scott could have picked it up even if he hadn't walked in on Jean's nightmare. But what was bothering her? And why was she so unwilling to talk about it? Maybe he should tell the professor. . . 'No, Jean needs to work things out on her own. She doesn't need you making her decisions for her!' he thought, 'just let her go, if she really does feel the same as you, she'll admit it over time.' And with that thought lingering in his mind, Scott pulled into the school parking lot, ready to face another day of pep-rallies and anti-mutant torture.  
  
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"Your friend is goin' out with Avalanche; why not go out with me?"  
  
"Maybe she's with Lance 'cause he showers more than once a millennium, Toad- breath." Rogue continued staring out the window, paying no attention to the boy hopping beside her.  
  
"C'mon Rogue, you know you want me." Toad shot his tongue out to catch a fly zooming above his head.  
  
"As if." Not glancing away from the window, Rogue's hand shot out, grabbing Toad's tongue and pulled him off his chair with a sharp tug.  
  
"Miss Rogue, Mr. Tolensky, is it possible that you two could concentrate on chemistry for more than 5 minutes?" Mr. Meridian rubbed his temples in frustration. He'd been at Bayville High for less than a month and he was already sick of it.  
  
"Teach, that's what I've been trying to tell her! We've got total chemi-" Toad's words were cut off as Rogue kicked the chair out from under him, sending him toppling to the floor and sending the class into uproarious laughter.  
  
Sight, Mr. Meridian waved his hands at the students, "Class dismissed."  
  
Cheering at their early dismissal, the class left the room in a frenzied rush. Hoisting her bag up onto her shoulder, Rogue placed her right combat boot on Toad's chest, shoving him into the corner, and then stalking out of the room.  
  
As Rogue approached her locker, her heart skipped a beat; there he was, leaning against his locker, faint lines creasing his brow like they always did when he was deep in thought. Rogue had unknowingly memorized his expressions: faint creases meant he was thinking, deep lines meant he was worried, lips slightly turned upwards meant he was amused but didn't want to reveal it, his eyebrows arched when he was surprised, his brow furrowed and his pale lips quivered when he was upset or angry, and then there was his smile, the brilliant a-white-teeth light-up-the-world smile that he rarely bestowed upon her. With his shaggy-brown hair hanging sexily over his shades and his relaxed stance Scott fulfilled every requirement of a God.  
  
Slinger her backpack over her heavily covered shoulder; she strutted towards her locker, her black leather skirt crinkling against her evergreen tights. Carefully avoiding eye contact with Scott, she pressed a gloved hand against the cool metal of her locker and slowly began twisting the dial; -to the right 4, to the left, pass 15 twice.16, back to the right, 24- The locker gave a gentle click, swinging open to reveal a disarray of pictures, books, and loose assignments littering the metal container. Rummaging through the collection of textbooks, Rogue pulled out a tattered- looking Social Studies volume, bearing a picture of an overly confident George Washington crossing the Delaware.  
  
When she glanced back over her shoulder, Scott was gone; she had missed her chance again. 'What did you think you were going to say anyways? "Scott, forget jean, I'm free." Yeah, right, like that's ever gonna happen.' Furious, Rogue slammed her locker shut, the clanging metal echoing down the hall as startled students turned to star at her irate face glowering back at them.  
  
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Wind rushing at his face, Evan shifted his weight on his skateboard, circling around the graffiti-covered lamppost, and zooming on down the paved sidewalk. 'This is the way to live!' he thought as he skidded past an envious looking kid, struggling under the weight of his nylon book bag. Grinning crazily, Evan rode up the "disabled" ramp that headed into the library, jumping off just before he crashed into a frightened young girl in a wheelchair. Laughing maniacally he turned back towards the sidewalk when he saw her. The impact he felt was as though someone had punched him in the gut. Gaping like a dolt he surveyed the girl's radiant beauty. She had an exotic mane of flowing, silky black hair that swirled around her flawless Macedonian skin. Intense turquoise eyes flicked with gold shown out from her unmarred complexion. She was dressed in a sarong that matched her eyes, and a satin, button-up, Chinese styled t-shirt that contrasted beautifully against her tanned skin. And as he observed this amazing creature, Evan literally fell head over heels for her. Skateboard hitting a crack in the pavement, Evan was cruelly jerked back into reality by his flailing arms and the pressure of the sidewalk smacking across his side. Groaning, Evan lay still on the pavement, trying to get the world back into focus when a melodic voice rang out, "Are you ok?"  
  
'It's her' was the first thought that occurred in Evan's disoriented mind. Shaking his head as if to rid himself of the pain, Evan blinked into the blinding sunlight. "Uh, yeah, fine."  
  
A smooth, tanned hand wove around his dark brown one, heaving him to his feet. "I'm Arisnoë," she offered with a brilliant smile.  
  
"Evan, Evan Daniels," he replied. 'Oh man! I sound like some cheesy movie rip-off!'  
  
"I just moved here from Saudi Arabia," her voice was coated slightly with an accent that Evan couldn't place.  
  
"Welcome to Bayville," Evan smiled at here, "I'm actually pretty new here myself, just moved from New York a few weeks ago."  
  
"Do you go to Bayville High?"  
  
"Yeah, are you starting there?"  
  
"I believe so, at least, I think that is what my father said," her brow furrowed as she thought about it, then she once again turned her glowing smile on Evan. "I don't suppose you would be able to show me around tomorrow, would you?"  
  
"Uh, sure, how 'bout we meet outside school half an hour early?"  
  
"Sounds wonderful," glancing at the golden watch that dangled from her right wrist she gasped, "I'm late for tea with my mother! Thank you for your kindness, Evan." And with that she strolled off, leaving Evan to his thoughts.  
  
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	2. The Nightmares Begin

A/N: I changed Arisnoë's accent so that she pronounces her th's as z's. Example: There ( zare, and this ( zis.  
  
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The glitter in Amanda's hair shimmered in the moonlight casting a ghostly silver halo of light around her perfectly ironed hair. Her feet padded lightly on the dampened grass, and as she stepped closer to him, Kurt slipped his fuzzy blue arms around her waist, holding her close. He could be himself around Amanda, she loved him for who he truly was, not for who he had to pretend to be. Amanda's soft brown eyes gazed up into Kurt's inky-black ones and she tilted her head upwards, just as he tilted his down towards hers. Right before their lips touched, a long crack resounded in the crisp air. Pulling apart, both freshmen (a/n: what grade are Amanda and Kurt in?) turned to see where the sound had come from, only to find themselves face to face with a creature that could only be dreamt up in some horrible nightmare. Angry red eyes shone out from behind a blackened face, hidden by the shadows. Fangs dripping with something that hideously resembled blood protruded from a scowling mouth while claws raked through the air, slashing at Kurt and Amanda. Advancing slowly, the creature backed the frightened couple into the brick wall surrounding the park, leaving them with no escape.  
  
"Kurt!" Amanda shrieked, her voice full of pure terror. "Get us out of here!"  
  
Focusing all of his energy on his teleportation, Kurt tried to remove the two of them from the monster's view, but something was terribly wrong; he couldn't teleport.  
  
"Kurt!" Her face was streamed with tears now.  
  
"I'm trying! Something's wrong! I can't move!"  
  
Just as the monster closed in on the terrified duo; a bell rang out in the distance, jarring Kurt awake. The only remnant of the horrifying dream was the sound of Amanda's piercing scream, echoing through his skull.  
  
"Uh. . . Kurt? Is everything alright?" A strangled voice questioned.  
  
Looking down, Kurt noticed that he was no longer in his room, but standing on top of Scott's bed, apparently on top of Scott. "Oh, sorry man, I'm not quite sure what happened. . . how did I get here?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure, I felt something hit my stomach, it woke me up, and I found you standing on top of me." Futilely trying to draw in air he gasped, "would you mind getting off?"  
  
"Oh, right, sorry." Hopping off the bed, Kurt's tail whipped Scott in the face. "I don't know what happened. I was having this dream, and I tried to teleport, but couldn't, and when I woke up, I was here." Kurt kept the details of the dream to himself, uneager to share his romantic fantasies with Scott.  
  
"Your attempts to teleport in your dream must have sent you here," Scott rubbed the reddening scrape on his cheek.  
  
"I guess that's possible," his thick accent was lined with an irrepressible sadness.  
  
"Kurt? Are you ok?" Scott stopped mid-stretch, looking genuinely concerned. He was one of the first of the X-men to ever meet Kurt, and in all their years as friends, he had never seen the elf look so down.  
  
"What? Oh, I guess, I don't know . . . the dream, it just seemed so . . . real. . ." he trailed off; as though he was afraid Scott would think he was overreacting.  
  
Scott looked pensive for a moment, then turned to Kurt, the pale sunlight streaming through his windows reflected off of his ruby sunglasses. "You know, the other morning Jean had a nightmare as well, I heard her scream and when I got in there she was levitating towards the ceiling. But she refused to talk about her dream, do you think that your dream is some how related to hers?"  
  
"I guess it is possible, but it vas probably just a nightmare." He admitted.  
  
Getting out of bed, Scott pulled a pair of crumpled jeans up over his boxers and, yawing, made his way towards the bathroom.  
  
"Uh, Scott?" Kurt asked tentatively.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think it's possible that that could actually happen? That we could lose our powers?"  
  
The sound of Kurt's anxious voice made Scott turn around mid-step, and walk back towards his friend. Placing a hand on Kurt's trembling shoulder, Scott averted his eyes. "I don't know, I really don't know."  
  
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"So the zone between lockers #150 and #200 is pretty much off limits unless you're a jock."  
  
"What's a jawk?" Arisnoë questioned curiously. After touring with Arisnoë, Evan began to realize just how sheltered the girl had been previous to her move here.  
  
"An athlete, someone obsessed with sports. Take Duncan Matthews, for example, Bayville's pride and joy, the star football player. You can't hang out with the jocks unless it's tight with him."  
  
"Oh, I see," she paused, the giggled, "who's he 'going with'?"  
  
Evan laughed at Arisnoë's quick pick up on his slang. "That would be Jean Grey," he gestured to a pretty red-haired girl standing on the fringe of the crowd, arms crossed at her chest, an annoyed look in her eyes. "She lives at the Xavier Institute with me."  
  
"What exactly is zis 'institute'?" She asked as they continued walking down the hall, side-by-side.  
  
Evan froze, as the newest member of the X-men he had never had to endure anyone questioning him on the Institute; everyone at school had already had the matter carefully explained to them, but no one had ever bothered explaining the cover story to Evan. "Well, you see, it's kind of like a . . . um. . . boarding school, I guess. After school here we have extra classes there, training, stuff like that."  
  
"I zink I understand. So, how many of you live zare?"  
  
"Uh. . . me, Jean, Scott, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt. . ." he ticked the names off on his fingers as he went, "Amara, Jamie, Rahne, Roberto, Bobby, Sam. . .I'm not quite sure, but at least 12 or so."  
  
"I see. . ." she trailed off, her eyes traveling over the now crowded high school. "Who are zey?" Her eyes landed on two coquettish freshmen flirting openly in the halls.  
  
"Hm?" Evan followed her gaze. "Oh, that's Kitty Pryde and Lance Alvers. They come from completely different worlds. Kitty's at the Institute with me and Lance lives with four other losers in a rundown boarding house; they call themselves the 'Brotherhood,' actually. . ." he paused as a new thought occurred to him. "I think they, Kitty and Lance, went to the same school back in Northbrook, but they didn't get along at all, then the prof., Professor," he corrected at the look of bewilderment on her face, "advised that Kitty join the Institute, and Lance followed."  
  
Arisnoë sighed dreamily, "Zat is so sweet! Leaving one's home for true love!"  
  
Evan made the same disgusted expression he used whenever one of the girls at the Institute mentioned "true love."  
  
"Are zare an ozzer couples I should know about?" She questioned sweetly.  
  
"That I haven't already told you about? Um, yeah, Scott Summers and Taryn Fujioka, and Kurt Wagner and Amanda Sefton; both Kurt and Scott are at the Institute as well." Glancing at the clock on the plaster wall ahead of him, he added, "We should probably get going, only 5 minutes 'till class starts."  
  
Pausing in front of a blue door with peeling paint, revealing splotches of gray, Evan turned. "This is your English class, Mrs. Bellar, she's an awesome teacher. You'll like her."  
  
"Zank you for your kindness, Evan." Arisnoë flashed him a glowing smile, then sauntered into the faded classroom, leaving Evan to fight his way through the swarming crowd.  
  
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Jumping swiftly to the left, Shadowcat dodged the falling debris. Running across the frozen concrete she wove in and out of the hazardous fragments doing a quick somersault to avoid a misaimed laser. "Cyclops! Watch the lights!" She trilled, never stopping on her mission to the other side of the water park. Racing the ladder to the top of the "Cyclone Slide" where the Scarlet Witch was conducting her mayhem. "Wanda! You have to calm down!" She shrieked, trying to keep her nerves while trying to calm Wanda Maximoff's. Balancing herself on the shaking platform, she advanced towards the other end where Avalanche had his strong arms wrapped around Wanda's writing body. As Wanda's fury increased, bolts from the slide began to fall in larger chunks, threatening to shatter the platform along with somebody's skull. Finally losing control, Lance let go of Wanda, just as a lead pipe fell from above him, crushing his back and knocking him to the floor.  
  
"Lance!" Kitty screamed, 'I've got to get to him!' She thought as another pipe fell straight at her. Phasing through the pipe she sunk lower into the platform, half her body remaining above the platform, half below. But something went horribly wrong, she couldn't pull her self back up, she was frozen in the platform, watching horrid scenes play before her eyes.  
  
"Shadowcat! Watch it!" A frantic voice called from the distance.  
  
Looking up, she saw another duct falling towards her head. Once again she tried to phase, but her attempt had no avail. The lead crushed her skull, sending a searing pain through her head and then there was only darkness.  
  
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	3. The Dream Plane

I got the idea for the dream plane from the Roswell High series. I've tried to change it as much as possible from the way that Isabel Evans describes it, but the idea still does not belong to me, though I wish it did. Hope you like it~~~  
  
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Moaning, Kitty's eyes flickered open, and she was blinded by the whiteness of the room. 'Am I dead?' she wondered, 'Is this the light at the end of the tunnel?' Forcing her eyes closed again, intense pain shot through her skull. She moaned again in response to the pain. 'I can't be dead, I mean, once you die, aren't you supposed to be free of pain and suffering?' Trying and failing to open her eyes again, she was vaguely aware of someone stroking her matted hair.  
  
"Is she avake?"  
  
"Look, her eyelids fluttered again."  
  
"Is she going to be ok?" Dim voices began to push their way into her mind. At first they were muffled, fuzzy, like a radio in desperate need of tuning, but as the conversation continued they became clearer and clearer.  
  
"She just suffered a mild concussion, nothing worse. You are all going to be late for school if you don't hurry. Leave and give Kitty some peace, it's best we all continue on with a normal schedule anyways. Scott, will you take this note to Principal Kelly? It should explain Kitty's absence."  
  
"Sure, Professor." The sound of shuffling footsteps and the opening and closing of doors entered Kitty's ears.  
  
"Is she going to be ok?" A voice demanded once more.  
  
"She simply bumped her head, she didn't crack her skull. It's just a mild concussion, she'll be fine. Lance, you should return to school."  
  
"I'm not leaving her here alone!"  
  
"She won't be alone; I, Ororo Monroe, or Mr. McCoy will be with her at all times. You have nothing to worry about."  
  
"I'm not leaving her like this!" He stomped his foot like an incensed toddler, causing the room to sway.  
  
"Very well, you may stay." The professor relented as though worried that Lance might cause another quake. "I'm returning to my office, I'll send Ororo up here in a few moments." The door slid open for the last time, leaving Kitty and Lance alone in the bare infirmary.  
  
Attempting to open her eyes again, Kitty could just faintly see the blurred outline of Lance Alvers. "Lance?" she murmured, here head aching with the effort it took to talk.  
  
"Kitty?" Lance gushed eagerly, the room shaking from his excitement.  
  
"Wha-what happened?"  
  
"I'm not sure," he answered uncertainly, "Summers called me in the middle of the night, saying you were hurt. Apparently you were having a nightmare or somethin', phased through your bed, and hit your head on the floor. At least, I think that's what Rogue said, but I'm not completely - Kitty? What's wrong?" He cast a worried glance to her face where her eyes were shimmering with tears at the mention of her nightmare.  
  
"It's nothing, just tired I guess."  
  
"You go ahead and sleep. I'm not going to leave you."  
  
Kitty smiled at the rare streak of sensitivity in Lance. "Scott actually called you?" She giggled at the idea.  
  
Lance smirked, "yeah, you can imagine my surprise when I heard his voice on the other end of the phone at 3 in the morning."  
  
"I'm glad he called you," she smiled as her eyes slowly began to close.  
  
"So am I, so am I."  
  
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The sweet scent of lilacs wafted gently through the room, while a cool breeze entered through the open window, giving the tiny closet the feeling of a cool summer evening. Candlelight flickered, casting ghostly shadows against the wall, providing only a dim light. Arisnoë never meditated in her room, with its four poster bed, satin sheets, silky over hangings of red trimmed with golden lace. The brightly lit room felt too large, too exposed, and full of wealth. She needed a dark, quiet place where she could sit undisturbed with no distractions; just her, the dim candlelight, and the sweet aroma of her lilac incense. It put her in the perfect mood to enter the dream plane.  
  
The dream plane: it had to be her favorite place with its vibrant colors, melodic sounds, and perfect scenarios that lay out for her pleasure. She preferred entering peoples' dreams rather than their thoughts; for one, it was easier for their minds were not as wary of her entrance, their subconscious was lying open, unprepared to ward her off. For another thing, not all people had yet learned to control their dreams - Arisnoë had been able to control her dreams since she was 6, she assumed it was just another part of her power - so it felt less personal to enter their uncontrolled dreams during the night than entering the thoughts they could direct during the day.  
  
Breathing in the deep scent of lilacs, she closed her eyes, relaxed, and was in. Millions of pictures swam before her, each one rimmed with the color of the dreamer's emotion. She recognized Jean's, Kitty's, and Kurt's, all surrounded in a deep purple signifying a deep, dreamless sleep. That was common, after having your dream entered and altered, to not dream again for several nights. They're dreams had been so easy to enter, each one had been dreaming about their powers, Arisnoë hadn't even needed Evan to tell her that they went to the Institute. For that's what the Institute was, she deduced, a school for mutants. But the others, they're dreams were proving to be more difficult, for none of them had openly dreamt about their powers, and without that knowledge she could not fulfill her duty.  
  
An orb flew past, glowing a luscious cerulean, the color of unrequited love. Curious, more, perhaps, than she should be, she beckoned to the picture, planning on entering it. She was surprised to find that the dream belonged to Evan. 'He's not dating anyone, so who is he dreaming about?'  
  
Widening the portal with a swift wave of her hand, she gracefully stepped inside, careful to remain unseen to Evan and the girl he was standing with on the moonlit beach. The girl's charcoal hair flew back behind her, revealing two gleaming eyes. Evan leaned forward and whispered something to the girl, causing her bell-like laughter to ring out over the breaking of waves against the sand. Arisnoë recognized the laughter but she couldn't believe it, there was no possible way that Evan could be dreaming about the girl she was certain the laughter belonged to. But as the wind picked up, the mysterious girl shook her hair out of her eyes, turning her face towards Arisnoë.  
  
Gasping, Arisnoë wrenched herself out of Evan's dream, sending the scene swirling in a mixture of rainbow colors. Not even bothering to glance at any of the other dreams, she slipped out of the dream plane only to find herself panting on her closet floor with her candles burning low. Blowing out the candles' lingering flames, she stepped out of her closet, trying to block out the image that kept arising in her mind; Evan Daniels was in love with her.  
  
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	4. Accusations

A/N: Sorry this chapter's kinda lame, but I needed to lead into what's going to happen next. I promise it will get better!  
  
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*bamf* "Vat is going on?" Kurt asked as he teleported into the infirmary.  
  
"I'm not quite sure," Jean shook her silky hair, "I ran into Scott after bio and he said to meet him here after school."  
  
"Yah, I got fed the same story before math, he said it vas important." Both Kurt and Jean turned to Kitty who was reclining on the painful bed, spooning Jello into her still weakened mouth.  
  
"Don't look at me, Scott, like, hasn't been here since the morning I woke up. You two just randomly showed up."  
  
"Hey, glad you guys are here." A confident voice broke into their conversation as Scott strode into the room.  
  
"Scott, what is going on?" Jean wasted no time with small-talk.  
  
He sighed, averting his eyes from Jean's piercing gaze. "Look, all three of you have had some kind of nightmare that ended in the use of your powers, it's possible," he added as they each tried to protest, "it's possible that they're all just coincidental, but I want to be sure."  
  
"Scott! You promised you'd leave this alone! It was just a nightmare!"  
  
"That was before Kurt teleported on top of my bed and Kitty phased through hers!"  
  
The other three were silent at this statement. Scott sighed and tried to begin again. "Can each of you just explain what was happening in your nightmare? Maybe we can find some kind of connection. . . " he trailed off as both Kurt and Kitty blushed, thinking about what had occurred in their dreams.  
  
Glaring steadily at Scott, Jean finally sighed and eventually relented. "Fine, I was standing on something high. . . I don't remember," her brow furrowed, "either a skyscraper or a cliff, I'm not sure which, but I started to fall and when I tried to levitate I . . . I couldn't, so I continued to fall, and right before I hit the ground I woke up." She finished shakily, keeping her eyes on the floor, not daring to make contact with any of the others.  
  
"And yet, when I walked in, you were levitating near the ceiling, your telekinesis was in full effect."  
  
Kurt stared curiously at Jean, "In my dream, I couldn't teleport."  
  
"Yet you teleported into my room," Scott spoke eagerly, "Kitty?"  
  
"I-I phased halfway through the floor to avoid something, but I couldn't phase back out."  
  
"But you phased through your bed!"  
  
"Yeah. . ."  
  
"Scott," Jean interrupted, "You've proved you're point, but what does it mean?"  
  
His face fell, "I'm not sure, but I do think we should tell the Professor."  
  
"Scott. . ."  
  
"Jean! We need to! What if it's not just a coincidence?"  
  
"What if it is? What other explanations are there? We'd just be making a big fuss over nothing!"  
  
"I've already thought about that, this is going to sound pretty crazy, but hear me out, just give me a chance, ok?"  
  
"Alright," Jean agreed doubtfully. Scott rarely led them astray, but this whole situation seemed fairly far-fetched.  
  
"What if someone's projecting these images into your minds?"  
  
"What?" Jean gasped in disbelief.  
  
"Why?" Kitty voiced.  
  
"Who?" Kurt gaped.  
  
"Somebody who wants us all to become paranoid, wary of others, afraid we might actually lose our powers. Think about it, they wouldn't expect us to figure it out because they'd assume you'd all be too proud to reveal your nightmares that by morning seem nothing more than childish fears."  
  
"Vell, it does make sense. . ."  
  
"I don't know. . .I mean, your story makes sense, but not even the Professor has that kind of power."  
  
"Which is totally why we should tell him!" Comprehension dawned on Kitty's face as she smiled up at Scott.  
  
Only Jean still showed signs of skepticism, "I still don't buy it, but if you all think we should, I guess we can tell the Professor."  
  
Scott smiled brilliantly at her, "You won't be sorry, I promise."  
  
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"Well, it certainly is an interesting accusation," the Professor agreed, just minutes later.  
  
"But who could possibly be powerful enough to project images into others' minds? And why ours? It just doesn't seem logical."  
  
"Vat about the Scarlet Vitch? She seem strong enough."  
  
"Wanda?" the Professor looked up, "No, not even her powers can exceed this."  
  
"What about the Acolytes? Is it possible that one of them. . .?"  
  
"No, Scott. Magneto doesn't have anyone possible of what you have accused, Cerebro would have picked it up the last time we encountered them."  
  
"Cerebro? When's the last time we scanned Bayville?"  
  
"Not for quite some time. . ."  
  
"Scott, you don't think there's a new mutant in Bayville, do you?" Jean heaved an exasperated sigh.  
  
"I'm just saying that if we haven't scanned in some time, it's a possibility."  
  
"And they just randomly discovered we were mutants?"  
  
"They could have read our minds."  
  
"As well as project images? I am so sure, Scott Summers."  
  
Their bickering continued until the Professor spoke to them inside their minds. "Enough! You two clearly have some issues to work out, but now is not the time for foolish disagreements."  
  
Both Scott and Jean blushed, nodding at the floor, dropping their argument out of shame.  
  
"Now, I think we should investigate Scott's theory, see if there is any validity to it, but until then I want you all to keep your minds clear of any thoughts relating to the Institute or your powers. If you have any more dreams or . . . unnatural thoughts, I want you to report to me immediately. I'll speak to the rest of the students later this afternoon, but I do not want this conversation to leave this room, it will do us no good to have a school full of paranoid mutants."  
  
The three of them nodded, agreeing to uphold the Professor's wishes; but some things are easier said than done.  
  
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	5. Nightmares & Heartaches

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, and sorry this is such a long chapter~~~ I won't be able to update again 'till Friday because of JUMP, but I promise to update then!!! Enjoy~~  
  
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Intense heat beat down on him from all sides, making his work even more unbearable. Sweat dripped from his hairline down his dust covered face, into the curve of his neck, and then trickled down his back where his thin cotton shirt was plastered to his skin. "This is lame," he finally spoke up, causing the others to look up from their labor of shifting rock. "Let's make it a bit easier." His eyes rolled up into his head, fists clenched, and the ground began to shake, shifting the rocks easily from the cave entrance.  
  
"Nice thinking, Lance!" An angelic voice called out.  
  
Praise coming from Kitty was like praise coming from God himself, Lance smiled and the ground began to shake more violently.  
  
"Yo, Shakedown! Watch the quakes!" Scott yelled frantically.  
  
Anger taking place of happiness, Lance lost control of the strength of his tremors. Rock shifted from the cliff, raining down from the mixed assemble of X-men and Brotherhood members.  
  
"Everyone, into the cave!" Scot spoke as the brave leader that he was.  
  
Everyone sprinted to the cave, everyone but Kitty who hovered anxiously. "Lance, come on!" But her words were lost in the tumulus roar of falling rocks. "Lance!" She screamed as rocks fell around her, piling on top of one another, burying her in the slide.  
  
The scream of his girlfriend was enough to jar him from his trance. "Kitty!" He ran to the pile of rocks and began shifting them anxiously. "Kitty! Phase!"  
  
"I-I can't!" came the terrified reply, muffled by a wall of sandstone.  
  
"I'm gonna shake it."  
  
"Hurry! They're crushing me!"  
  
Petrified, Lance tried to shake the ground, but something was wrong, he couldn't get the earth to quake! Not even a tiny tremor!  
  
"Lance!" Kitty screamed her last scream.  
  
"No!" With power he never knew he had, Lance yanked the rocks from the pile until his sweetheart fell out into his lap.  
  
"Lance," she breathed, and then her eyes closed ineradicably.  
  
"No," he sobbed, clutching her limp body to his chest. "No!"  
  
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"Where is she?" Lance stormed into the Institute the next morning.  
  
Amara and Bobby looked up from their bowls of cereal as Roberto and Rahne stopped mid-conversation, surprised at this sudden outburst. Amara slid out of her chair, standing to face Lance. "If you mean Kitty she's still sleeping. The Professor moved her out of the infirmary, but said she's still too weak to be in school."  
  
"Thanks," Lance gave her a lopsided grin, then bounded out of the kitchen. Sprinting up the carpeted stairs, he passed a startled looking Scott who questioned, "Alvers?" But Lance did not stop to talk, instead, he shoved passed Scott, continuing his way to Kitty's room.  
  
Pausing in front of her door, he took a deep breath then knocked softly, pushing the odor slightly open. Sunlight streamed through the cracks between the violet curtains, leaving enough light to reveal a slipshod room, crammed with two beds; one left unmade, clothes sprawled across it along with a mess of forgotten schoolwork, but in the other bed; lay a pale Kitty, looking as fragile as a China doll among the rippling covers.  
  
Pulling a chair out from under one of the overflowing desks, Lance took Kitty's hand in his own, and gazing at the sight of is love sleeping peacefully, he let the silent tears spill gently down his coarse cheeks, for once not bothering to hide them.  
  
"Lance?" A weary voice questioned.  
  
Hastening to wipe the remaining tears off his face, Lance favored Kitty with a sheepish grin, "Hey Kit."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"What, not happy to see me?"  
  
"I'm always happy to see you, I'm just confused. It's not everyday you open your eyes to see a handsome face staring back at you."  
  
Kitty thought she could detect a faint blush in Lance's rough cheeks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but I had to see you."  
  
"Why? Is something wrong?" she asked anxiously.  
  
"Nah, not really, I just had this nightmare. . . "  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"You're going to think I'm crazy and paranoid."  
  
She laughed fondly, "I already think you're crazy, tell me about the dream Lance, maybe I can help."  
  
He sighed, but explained his dream to her anyways, carefully avoiding eye contact with her out of fear that he'd see a concerned or terrified face staring back at him. Finishing his painful tale, Lance nervously glanced up at Kitty's chalk-white face.  
  
"It just felt so real, I had to make sure that you were all right." He gave her an apologetic smile.  
  
"Y-you said that both you and I couldn't use our powers?" Kitty's voice came out in a high-pitched squeak.  
  
"Yeah, why? Kitty, is something wrong?" He questioned uneasily.  
  
"N-no, well, yes. . .Jean, Kurt, and I have all had dreams like that," she hesitated and then spilled the whole story to Lance. ". . . and the Professor said to tell him if we had any more dreams, and now you've had a dream, and. . . oh, Lance! I'm scared!" Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.  
  
"Shh, Kitty," he climbed onto her bed, enveloping his arms around her quivering form, "I'll never let anything happen to you, I promise, I could never ever let anything happen to you.  
  
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Rain seemed to pour into the deepening fog, casting an eerie feeling over the long-since used cemetery. Heavy clouds filled the sky, blocking out the full moon and twinkling stars that should be blanketing the dark. "What am I doing here?" Jean inquired herself.  
  
"I zink I can answer zat."  
  
Peering into the fog, Jean saw a slender shape approaching. "How did you do that?"  
  
"I can read you zoughts, Jean Grey, much like you could read mine, if I let you. Perhaps you should have listened more to your friend, Mr. Summers." The girl replied as she emerged from the shadows.  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" Jean took a step backwards, a sense of dread filling her.  
  
"Some call me Tantalus. But I believe ze question is what do you want, Jean Grey?" The girl cocked her head to the side, sending her shimmering veil of black hair into a fit of frenzied ripples.  
  
"What do you mean, what do I want?"  
  
"Perhaps I should rephrase my question, forgive me, who do you want?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Tantalus gestured to Jean's right side where two figures were bound to a tall pillar, a mass of blonde hair protruding from the left of the pillar, while shaggy brown hair could be seen on the right. "Scott? Duncan?"  
  
"Yes, it is ze two boys. Now, which do you choose?"  
  
"Which do I choose?"  
  
"You cannot have both, for which is your love deeper?"  
  
"Who are you to do this? I should not have to make a choice to please you!" Jean regained her haughty composure.  
  
"Very well, zen both must die." With a swipe of Tantalus' unmarred hand, the bonds fell away and the two boys feel from their positions atop the pillar. "You cannot have both, Jean Grey, only one you may save. Now choose."  
  
"I will not let them die!" Jean connected with her telekinesis, trying to save the two boys, and it seemed to work momentarily, for they both hovered in the air, but it soon failed and they sped to the dampened ground. "No! Why won't it work?"  
  
Tantalus laughed, "You have no powers here, Jean Grey, and now you won't have your love to save you!" She yelled as the two boys hit the ground, the sound of bones cracking echoing through the air.  
  
"No!" Jean ran to Scott, lifting his hand off the moistened ground, "Scott, answer me, are you all right?"  
  
"Interesting," Tantalus mused, "you choose ze mutant you ignore over your normal boyfriend." She giggled.  
  
"Jean?" Scott murmured.  
  
"Yes, I'm here, you're going to be ok, I won't leave you Scott."  
  
"Jean, I love y- " Scott's body shuddered as he gasped, then his hand fell limply against her lap.  
  
"No. . . no!"  
  
"Jean? Jean, wake up!" A hand shook her roughly.  
  
"Scott?" Jean's eyes cracked open. "Oh, Scott!" Her body crumpled against him, and burying her head in his chest she began to sob.  
  
"Shh, Jean, don't cry. Everything's going to be alright, I'm here." He rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her jittery nerves.  
  
"Oh, Scott, I thought I'd lost you!" She choked out between sobs.  
  
"You're never going to lose me, Jean, I would never leave you." He promised her.  
  
As he continued to rock her, Jean's sobs began to lessen, and she thought she heard him murmur under his breath, "I love you too much to ever leave you."  
  
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	6. Dawning of Understanding

A/N: Another short and probably pretty lame chapter, but I promise this will eventually lead to something! Thanks to those of you who still find it interesting enough to read!  
  
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Pulling the door to a soft close behind her, Arisnoë glanced around the musty room. Shelves filled with thousands of dusty, leather-bound books lined the walls, concealing the unprofessional appearance of peeling paint and granite chunks chipped out of the fading parapet. Light filtered in through shafts in the bent and broken blinds that were drawn over the grand picture window, providing some of the only light in the room, other than the dim glow of a reading lamp positioned diligently on the spindly desk that was crammed into the tight quarters of the office. Taking a deep breath, Arisnoë waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cubicle before proceeding further into the room where she took her usual spot on the rickety green bureau chair that sat facing the desk.  
  
"Tantalus," a cool, crisp voice spoke, draining all the warmth from the previously stifling room.  
  
Arisnoë flinched at the harshness of the voice, but replied without emotion. "Yes, milady?"  
  
"How is it with the other mutants? Are we progressing?"  
  
"It's difficult, but I think I've managed to stir fear into the few I've contacted. The three freshmen have been exceedingly jumpy and the senior was late to first period and couldn't stop shaking throughout it. She eventually had to go home because she couldn't concentrate." She smiled satisfactorily.  
  
"Four? You've only managed to work with for of them? And three of them impressionable freshmen at that!" She threw her arms up in disgust and turned to the window.  
  
Arisnoë wrinkled her nose at her administrators back. "It's not like it's been easy. They don't just openly talk about their powers, and the other senior, he's been doing an implausible job of keeping his mind closed; sealing his thoughts. Almost as well as me. . ."  
  
"I did not call you here so you could complain and praise yourself!" She spoke in a frenzied voice. "He is not pleased with your behavior! He'll just as soon have both our heads if you don't progress."  
  
Arisnoë sighed; this was not a battle she'd be winning any time soon. "I'm sorry for disappointing you milady. I'll try to make more progress."  
  
Her overseer eyed her with suspicion. "Very well. But unless you want to find yourself back on the street as a psychic you had better break into this senior's chain of thoughts before our next conference."  
  
Arisnoë winced, she had no desire to return to her past life. "Yes, milady." And as her mistress waved her hand in dismissal, Arisnoë found herself blinking back blinding sun light outside of Bayville, her thoughts drifting lazily to the task before her.  
  
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"So, I was thinking maybe we could catch a movie after school . . . nah . . ." Evan casually leaned against the wall, his hands slipping into his pockets. "Hey Ari, how 'bout, after school, you and I . . . no, that's not right."  
  
"Havin' an affair with ya mirror, Daniels?" Rogue drawled from her place in Evan's doorway.  
  
Blushing furiously, Evan snapped "Whatcha want, Rogue?"  
  
"Just wonderin' if ya knew what was goin' on 'round here. Everyone's been actin' so strange." She drawled languidly. "Or have you been too wrapped up in kissin' that mirror of yers?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Evan spoke through clenched teeth.  
  
"How Jean won't look anyone in the eye and is avoiding Scott, Lance and Kitty cling ta each otha like there's no tomorra, and Kurt's so jittery that if ya approach him without warnin' he jumps a foot in the air."  
  
"Of course I noticed," Evan jutted his chin out, puffing out his chest. "I just wasn't worried by matters that seemed so trivial."  
  
"Oh, and I suppose practicin' lines to the mirror so that ya can win a date with Miss 'Zank you so much for you're kindness' isn't frivolous at all?"  
  
Evan started at the statement.  
  
"Nah, didn't think so." Rogue flipped her streaked hair and stalked out of the room.  
  
Evan threw one last glance into the mirror and glared at his reflection. "Like you even stood a chance anyways." Grabbing his bag he stomped out of his room, vowing to spend less time dwelling on Arisnoë and more time on the problems of the Institute.  
  
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Kurt moved slowly through the emptying hallway, as though he was swimming through a dream. He was going to be late for class again, but for some reason, he no longer cared. In the past, Kurt had dreaded school, dreaded the agonizing six hour days when the students would tease him for wearing the heavy coat and hat in the sweltering classroom, but recently he had learned to love school. Ever since he came to the Institute, had been given the image inducer, he had loved school, especially the early morning hours where he could sit through math class in the presence of . . .  
  
"Kurt!" Amanda's soft voice beckoned to him.  
  
"Amanda?" He lifted his eyes off the concrete to see her worried eyes staring back at him.  
  
She ran down the hall, her braided hair flying out behind her. "Why aren't you in class?"  
  
"Look who's talking,"  
  
She blushed at his intense gaze; Kurt's eyes were normally full of laughter, but not today. "My dad just dropped me off; we had car trouble at home." She replied uneasily. "You?"  
  
"Ah, I guess I just feel a little out of it zis morning." He smiled apologetically. "No rush for school."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean; everyone's been so uptight lately, so school's been a major drag." Amanda smiled at Kurt's drained face. 'He hasn't been getting much sleep lately,' she thought, noting the heavy bags under his tired eyes. His almost bluish hair fell in a tangled mess over his head, giving him the look of someone who had rolled out of bed and just barely made it to school.  
  
Kurt had just opened his mouth to say something when heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, followed by panting breaths. Both Kurt and Amanda turned just as Jamie Madrox came barreling down the hallway. Picking his eyes off the ground, Jamie seemed startled to see the two of them standing there, and he abruptly tried to stop running causing him to skid across the floor into a metal trash disposal. "Whoa, aaaaah!" He shrieked as he thudded against the garbage can, sending 10 different copies of him sprawling across the floor. Looking up at Amanda's startled face he muttered, "Uh- oh," then his eyes moved to Kurt with a worried expression as if to ask "Am I in trouble?"  
  
Glancing from Jamie to Kurt, from Kurt to Jamie, an expression of understanding dawned on Amanda's face. "Oh, oh! Is he-? I mean. . . like you? Are there more than just you two?" Her eyes opened wide with excitement.  
  
Kurt sighed as the Jamies lay confused on the floor. "Jamie, you better get yourself together and head to class, um, Amanda? I think we need to talk. . ."  
  
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	7. A Penny for your Thoughts

A/N: Ok, the book that Jean keeps referring to later is "Kissed by an Angel" and Tristan and Ivy are the two main characters; two teens that fall in love, like seriously in love, they would die for one another. Do you think I need more Danger Room scenes in this chapter, or is it good? Anyways, hope you like it!  
  
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"Alright, there are two guards, one on the west walkway, and one on the lower boardwalk." Cyclops spoke into his transmitter, waiting for the crackling reply.  
  
"Not any more," came the high-pitched response, "Rogue just tapped out the one on the boardwalk." Shadowcat stated proudly. "I can take her in through the East wall if you like, we can deactivate the alarm."  
  
"No need, the spike man's got it all taken care of!" Spyke's voice called through the communicator. He stood positioned atop a pyramid of wooden crates, a large spike clasped in his outstretched hand. "Steady, Evan, you can do this." Sweat trickled down his face as he closed his left eye tightly, trying to get the perfect aim. Pulling his arm back, then pushing it forward, Spyke let the spike fly, landing perfectly on target in the power box, disconnecting the many wires and shutting off the electricity in the warehouse; including the alarm.  
  
"Nice one, Spyke!"  
  
"Yes!" Spyke pumped his fist up in the air in a typical guy fashion.  
  
"It ain't that easy, bub." A emotionless voice came from behind Spyke.  
  
"Huh?" He whirled around. "Cyclops! The guard from the west walkway, he- " the transmitter went dead.  
  
"Dang! We've lost another one!" Scott broadcasted to the remaining others.  
  
"Cyclops, the vest vall iz clear. Ve can teleport there."  
  
Cyclops turned to his friend. "All right, Nightcrawler, let's just hope we're not too late."  
  
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Evan groaned as Logan threw him out of the Danger Room. "I can't believe I'm out already!" He moaned, facing the disassembled heap of new recruits before him.  
  
"At least you lasted longer than us." Bobby Drake winced, sending icicles shooting out at the others. "Oops, sorry 'bout that." But the other mutants were too tired to notice.  
  
"Why are we being put through such intense training?" Rahne questioned.  
  
"With a maniac like Logan in charge? Who knows." Roberto shrugged, wiping blood off his throbbing lip. "You shoulda heard him when I tripped over that dustbin, you'd think it was the end of the world or somethin'!"  
  
Rahne Sinclair rolled her eyes, "Da Costa, you'd think a go-getter like you would realize that knocking over dustbins causes a racket that would give us all away."  
  
"Well excu-use me for being human!"  
  
Sam Guthrie shook his head as the bickering between Wolfsbane and Sunspot continued. "You'd think they'd learn that this fighting is getting them nowhere."  
  
Amara shrugged, "My cousin used to fight all the time with this one guy. Just like Rahne and Roberto."  
  
"So?"  
  
"They're married now."  
  
Roberto and Rahne exchanged looks of mixed horror and disgust, then quickly edged away from one another.  
  
Jubilee giggled, "You know, they would make a cute couple."  
  
"Hey!" Roberto's face began to flame, as did the rest of his body.  
  
"Yo, watch it man! We don't need a full-out fire outside the Danger Room," Evan held up his hands as is if to ward off the flames.  
  
"If you want a fire you're not going to get it from an amateur like him." Amara Aquilla sounded irritated.  
  
"Hey, meant no offense." Now it was Evan's turn to sound irritated.  
  
Amara had just opened her prissy mouth to retort when Bezerker came sailing through the Danger Room doors, covered in black ash. "Bugger!" he yelled as he glided across the floor, sending everyone into uproarious laughter.  
  
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Jean sat curled up in a squishy blue armchair, her sleek red hair falling over her shoulders as she deeply absorbed the novel she was reading. She was so engrossed in her reading that she didn't notice Scott shifting restlessly at her feet. After training in the Danger Room, the two of them had retired to Jean's room (as it was noticeably neater than Scott's) to work on homework. But has her homework was quickly finished, Jean had disregarded her spot on the plush carpet for the comfort of her reading chair while Scott finished his English essay on the floor. Now that homework was over and done with and strewn across the room, Scott was quickly growing tired with the stoic silence. Tracing his fingers across the corrugated rug, he came across a flat copper disc. Straightening up, Scott flicked the gleaming penny into Jean's lap and whispered, "A penny for your thoughts?"  
  
"A what?" Jean lifted her dream clouded eyes from the love affair between Tristan and Ivy to glance curiously at Scott.  
  
"A penny for your thoughts." Her expression remained blank. "You've never heard of that? What about 'a dime for your dreams'?" She shook her mane of shining hair and set "Kissed by an Angel" aside, interested as to what this concept was that Scott was going on about. "Ok, when someone says 'A penny for your thoughts,' you tell them what you're thinking about in exchange for a penny. It's a neat tradition."  
  
Jean smiled mischievously. "So, you sure you really want to know what I was thinking about?"  
  
"Can't be too x-rated," he retorted coolly, "but you never know, after all, this is the elusive Jean Grey we're talking about."  
  
She blushed, "Alright, if you must know. . . I was thinking about the love between Tristan and Ivy and wondering if I'll ever have anything as strong as that." She sighed wistfully as a tense silence filled the room. "Well," she asked nervously, "what were you thinking about?"  
  
He grinned slyly, "Can't you read my mind?"  
  
Jean drew her thin brows together in concentration. "No fair! You're blocking me out! How do you always do that? Whenever I try to read your mind, it's always blank!"  
  
He laughed, "Years of practice. And what do you mean by 'always' and 'whenever'? How often do you try to read my mind?"  
  
Jean's cheeks flushed under his playful scrutiny. "Only when you get into one of your moods and no one can get through to you."  
  
Scott's face fell, "and I suppose you do this on the Professor's orders?"  
  
"Hey," Jean slid off her chair and onto the floor next to Scott. "Contrary to your beliefs, we care about you too. And no," she shifted her weight, laying her head on Scott's shoulder, "at times like that the Professor tells us to leave you alone. I just like to make sure you're okay. . ."  
  
Scott's warm hand wrapped around Jean's ice-cold fingers and brought them to his lips. "Do you ever see things in people's minds that you wish you hadn't?"  
  
"I don't make it a habit to go around reading people's minds."  
  
"But when you do?"  
  
She sighed, "I guess occasionally, but I don't look into others minds unless I really have to, or" she started, predicting his next question, "when I'm worried about them."  
  
"Are you ever afraid you might not like what you see?"  
  
Jean nodded, her hair spilling over Scott's shoulder and the two of them sat in silence until. . .  
  
"So what were you thinking about?"  
  
"How beautiful you looked."  
  
"Seriously."  
  
"I'm serious. Would you like to read my mind?"  
  
"Would you let me in?"  
  
"I'd do anything for you." And Jean believed him, for at that moment she knew exactly how Ivy felt when she fell in love with Tristan. "Are you going to read it?  
  
"I don't have to, I already know." She stared soulfully into Scott's eyes, looking deeper than just his shades. Tilting his head down, Scott wrapped his arms around Jean's waist and pulled her close.  
  
And music filtered in dimly through the radio in the corner, "I can be your hero, baby, I can kiss away the pain. . ."  
  
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	8. A Growing Threat

A/N: I just realized I never mentioned when this story took place. . .it's pretty much after "The Hex Factor" or "Day of Reckoning". Fairly short chapter, but thanks to all of those who have reviewed! You guys have no idea how much these review mean to me!  
  
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Moonlight broke in through shafts in the heavy, red velvet curtains that hung loosely around the picture window. Steady breathing could be heard coming softly from the four-poster bed, filtering through the cracks between the canopy drapes. Lying peacefully on the satin sheets, her heavy- lidded eyes shut tightly, lay Arisnoë, deeply immersed in a dream that was not her own.  
  
She hadn't meant to enter the dream, but it was rimmed with such a luscious shade of red, a color she couldn't begin to describe, that she had been drawn to it - unable to keep herself from entering.  
  
Arisnoë was in a flourishing garden - a rose garden. The sweet scent of the heavily perfumed flower was so overpowering that even Arisnoë was full of the light-headed feeling of love. Peering deeper into the garden, Arisnoë could make out two forms sitting close on an intricately carved stone bench. As she stepped closer to get a better view, one of the shapes stood up, blocking the other with his firm body.  
  
"Scott? What's wrong?" A honey-sweetened voice questioned.  
  
"Shh, don't say anything." He whispered back.  
  
'So this is the mysterious Scott Summers' Arisnoë thought to herself. But before she could make another move she was thrown forcefully out of the dream.  
  
"Arisnoë? Honey, iz every zing alright?" A motherly voice called anxiously from the doorway.  
  
"I'm fine Muzzer, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep." Arisnoë sat up in her bed, rubbing her pulsating temple.  
  
"Are you sure? Maybe I should call Raven."  
  
"No! Mum, I'm fine!" Her heart sped up at the mention of Raven's name, she could not risk her benefactress discovering her inability to open Summers' readily open mind. As her mother pulled the door to a gentle close, Arisnoë's sleek head fell back on the sunken pillows. Why had she been thrown from Scott's dream? It had never happened before; never had Arisnoë ever been forced from a dream, she had always chosen when to leave, so why now? 'Unless. . .no, it couldn't be." She soliloquized back and forth in her head, 'But he is friends with the telepathic, he would have had plenty of time to practice.' And turning over, waiting to enter a dream world of her own, Arisnoë pondered her lingering questions; Had Scott known that there was an intruder in his dream and purposely thrown her out? Was he capable of blocking his mind and was this why he was so hard to reach? And the most terrifying question of all, did he know that Arisnoë was out there, and did he know the threat she was to him?  
  
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"Evan, wait up!" The slang came off sounding thick and awkward from Arisnoë's foreign tongue. Her golden cross pendant beat lightly on her chest as she ran, glinting in the afternoon sunlight.  
  
"Hey Ari, what's up?"  
  
"Not much," she smiled fondly at him as he grinned on her quick pick up of his lingo. "I just wanted to talk."  
  
Evan's grin widened and Arisnoë could feel him opening his mind up to her. 'Alright Arisnoë, you can do this, just slip into his mind.' But even as she forced the thoughts into her mind, Arisnoë couldn't help wondering what it would be like to trace her fingers across the line of bare skin between his bleached hair . . . 'No! Do not let your personal feeling interfere!' She reprimanded herself. If she let herself think of Evan in a matter other than as the link to the X-men . . . well, she didn't want to think of what Raven would do to her. She knew the powers of the shape shifter were greater than what they seemed.  
  
"Ari, is everything ok?" Evan sounded concerned.  
  
"Hm? Oh, yes, everyzing is fine . . . just tired, I guess."  
  
"Alright then," Evan forced a cheery voice as they casually chatted about school, but Arisnoë could tell he didn't believe her. His thoughts were lying there, open in his mind, with just a little probing she could uncover all his secrets, discover his powers and Scott's, she could please Raven . . . but Arisnoë could not bring herself to do it. She had grown too attached to Evan, he didn't know the threat she held to him, he had complete trust in her and no one had ever trusted Arisnoë that way before. 'Eventually,' she promised herself, 'eventually I will probe his mind, but not yet.' But what Arisnoë didn't realize was that as time dragged on, she was slowly falling in love with Evan Daniels.  
  
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Lance swung the front door open, striding into the Brotherhood home.  
  
"Ah, so the prodigal brother returns." In a flash, Pietro Maximoff was leaning against the door frame as Fred lumbered in the room after him.  
  
"The term is prodigal son." He shifted his menacing gaze between his two friends, "and I wasn't gone that long."  
  
"Three days, it's funny what can happen when you're away for three days." The speed demon spoke almost as fast as he could run. "It's long enough to make one wonder if a man had turned traitor and joined the X-men again."  
  
Lance narrowed his eyes and glared steadily at Pietro who smirked in response. "I was visiting my girlfriend, she's hurt, remember? And I care about her, which is more than you can say about anyone."  
  
"Believe me, Lance, if I bothered with a girlfriend, and you know I could easily get one-" did he ever, Lance wasn't easily going to forget the sight of Pietro with three girls hanging on his arms at the last dance. "I wouldn't be wasting my time with the enemy."  
  
Fred Dukes chuckled as Pietro continued to spin criticism around Lance's head.  
  
"What are you laughing at, Blob? You're both forgetting that if this genius over here," he nodded his head at Fred, "hadn't tried to kidnap his crush there could be two of us with girlfriends at the Institute." Lance pushed his way between the two boys and up the stairs to his room. "Besides, he tossed casually over his shoulder, "don't they always say to keep your enemies closer than your friends?"  
  
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	9. Shades of Red

A/N: A strictly Scott/Jean chapter, but I promise more Evan/Arisnoe, Lance/Kitty, and Kurt/Amanda is coming up!!!  
  
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There's something soothing about suppertime. How the Institute settles into a peaceful routine; Professor Xavier at the head of the table, Ororo and Logan on each of his sides, Scott and Jean across from each other, Kitty next to Kurt and across from Rogue and Evan, and then the whole mess of new recruits, all settling into their seats at the far end of the table. It feels as though, amidst the quiet commotion, each person has their own place, their own sense of belonging. True, the one end of the table was more orderly and sophisticated than the other, and maybe the freshmen may at times feel a little out of place crammed between the adults and the chattering preteens, but everyone eventually felt secure in their place.  
  
This was why Scott loved dinnertime; to him it was the lull in a perpetual storm. After school the restless mutants would return to the Institute, turning the sparkling mansion into a frenzied madhouse. For hours Scott would have to step over preteen bodies sprawled out in all angles scattered upon the many floors, forgotten homework, and opened chip bags as he wandered around the mansion in search for a quiet place to study. But then, for one glorious hour, they would be called to the table to take their meal together. And for that hour, there would be a strange calming in the atmosphere, until seven when all heck broke loose in the scrambling to be the first to the remote, to finish the delayed homework, and the insane preparations and hogging of the bathrooms before bed. It was usually at this time that Scott felt most at ease with himself, but not tonight. Tonight he felt restless and irritated. How he would like to retire to his room! But something kept him glued to his chair, rigid in his seat, as he forced himself to listen to another one of Kurt's humorous, yet pointless, stories.  
  
As Kurt finished up his long-winded tale, the other members of Bayville High released bursts of comical laughter. Hearing the sounds of everyone else's enjoyment, Scott strained himself to laugh as well, trying to appear as though nothing was wrong. But he apparently wasn't very convincing. . .  
  
*Scott, are you ok?* The thought popped into his head.  
  
'No, not again, someone's in my head, just like last night.' Scott panicked, not quite sure how to react.  
  
*Scott? Scott, calm down. It's me, Jean, remember?* The voice was calm, delicate, soothing. Scott felt himself begin to relax. The heart that had beat so fast only moments before was slowing to its normal pace, ad his pallid face began to flush with warmth and embarrassment.  
  
*Jean?* He asked slowly, concentrating his mind on her.  
  
*Yeah, it's Me.* A relieved emotion washed over Scott and it took him awhile to realize that the emotion was Jean's, not his own. *Is everything all right?*  
  
*Of course, why wouldn't it be?*  
  
*Scott Summers, don't you dare lie to me!*  
  
Scott slid his gaze of his cooling food and onto Jean. Her perfect red hair shimmered like strands of silk in the phosphorescent lights. Her sparkling green eyes - at least everyone said they were sparkling green, to him they appeared a fiery red - were full of concern. Her full lips were pursed as she concentrated on him, waiting for his response. 'D***, she's beautiful,' the thought slipped from his grasp.  
  
*I heard that* her lips had turned up ever so slightly as a wave of heat fled to Scott's cheeks.  
  
*That's what you get for reading my mind.* He shot back at her. *It's not fair, I can't read yours!*  
  
*Don't try to change the subject on me, Scott.*  
  
He pouted, using the same face he had always used to win his mother over . . . before the crash.  
  
*Don't do that! You're too cute when you pout!*  
  
*Only when I pout? Then I guess I'll have to do it more often.* He joked.  
  
Jean hesitated, unsure of what to say. Scott Summers was flirting with her, and part of her wanted desperately to flirt back, but she knew she couldn't, she shouldn't. *Scott, seriously, is everything okay?*  
  
He sighed, *It's too complicated to talk about now. If you really want to know, meet me in my room tonight.*  
  
*What time?*  
  
*Whenever you can come, don't hesitate to wake me.* And with that, Scott severed their connection, too choked with emotion to say anymore.  
  
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Peeling off his sweat-soaked gym shirt, Scott tossed it deftly into the hamper, pulling on a clean and baggy t-shirt over his bare chest, a t-shirt that just barely covered his progressing abs, covering the waistband of his blue boxer shorts. He'd given himself a hard workout after dinner, trying to release some of his building stress and now his muscles were screaming. All he wanted to do was to crash onto his bed and fall into a deep, undisturbed sleep. But he knew he couldn't; Jean would be coming tonight.  
  
If it had been anyone else they would have blown Scott off completely, but not Jean. Even though she may have no romantic interest in him, Scott knew that Jean would always be there for him. She always had been. Ever since they had first laid eyes upon each other it was as though an unbreakable bond had risen up between them. Sure they had an occasional fight, but Scott was the one jean ran to for comfort, and Scott knew he could always count on and confide in jean. That's just the way they were, and nothing was ever going to change that.  
  
*****************************A few hours later*****************************  
  
It was almost 11 by the time Jean finally made it to Scott's room. She hadn't meant to come so late, but she'd got caught up in training with the Professor and tonight was Logan's night to patrol the halls so she had had to wait for a safe time to sneak to Scott's room. She wasn't sure why she was so afraid of being caught, she'd sneaked to Scott's room plenty of before when they were younger, and even a few times earlier this year whenever she'd been feeling down, but on those occasions it had been more of an impulse, never a planned thing like tonight. She felt guilty, for some odd reason, as though she was breaking a rule of some sort.  
  
When she finally did make it to Scott's room, she hesitated before the door, knocking softly before letting herself in. "Scott?" she whispered into the darkness, almost afraid to turn on a light. Taking a deep breath, she strolled across the room, turning on a miniscule reading lamp rather than flicking on the bright, overhead lights. A deep pool of light flooded the desk, providing just enough light to comfortably see Scott stretched out on his bed. His covers fell loosely below his shoulder, revealing his pale bicep that extended out of his white sleeve. He was sleeping peacefully, his head resting on his right arm, his glasses still fastened to his head. Not wanting to disturb him, Jean almost left, but Scott's last words still lingered in her mind, "Don't hesitate to wake me." She knew that she needed to talk to him about what had been bothering him, and if she waited until tomorrow, Scott might have lost his nerve.  
  
Placing her cool hands firmly on his warm shoulder, she shook him gently. "Scott?"  
  
He woke with a start. It took Scott a few moments to realize where he was, who had woken him. He'd been dreaming about his family again, about the days before the crash. He knew the dream would have ended in a flurry of tears as the plane came crashing down, he should be thanking whoever had woken him up. Looking up at his rescuer, a gasp caught in his throat. With the bright light shining out behind the dark, silhouetted figure, Scott could have sworn he was in the presence of an angel. Sitting up, not taking his gaze from the girl, Scott's eyes grew more accustomed to the light. "Jean?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm sorry it's so late, but you said not to hesitate to wake you. . ." she trailed off, smiling apologetically at him.  
  
"No, it's ok, I'm glad you did, wake me up, I mean. . ." he rambled on, not quite sure of what he was saying.  
  
Jean giggled as he babbled. "I'm glad it's okay. I don't think I would have been able to stand it if you were mad at me."  
  
'She really is quite pretty,' Scott thought to himself, careful to block out his thoughts. Jean was sitting, curled really, at the foot of his bed. Her long hair spiraled down over her silky green lounging pajamas that matched the color of her eyes.  
  
Meanwhile, as Scott was still in a daze over Jean, Jean herself was trying to think how best to bring up the reason of why she was here. "Scott?" she questioned tentatively.  
  
"Hm?" He hated to admit it, but Scott wasn't paying all that much attention to the words coming from Jean's lips, but more to her lips themselves. Ever since the advancement of Scott's powers, he had learned to distinguish certain colors by their shade of red. His favorite color, he assumed, was green, for his favorite color was the shade of red he saw when he looked into Jean's eyes. It was so vivid, so joie de vive, he had loved Jean since the moment he's laid eyes on her, probably even before.  
  
"Scott Summers, are you listening to me?" her irritated voice interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Thinking of you? Yes. Listening to you? No." He replied calmly.  
  
Jean's cheeks flushed, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Slim."  
  
He heaved on over exaggerated sigh, "All right, alright, what were you saying?"  
  
"I was wondering what was bothering you earlier. You looked so. . ." she searched for the right word, "I don't know, upset."  
  
"How is it that you can always see right through me?"  
  
"I'm a mind reader." She laughed, but quickly stopped, seeing his serious visage. "I've known you a long time, Scott, you were my first real friend. Now, are you going to abuse that friendship, or will you tell me what's wrong?"  
  
Scott averted his eyes. "She was in my mind last night.  
  
"Who?" This was clearly not what Jean was expecting.  
  
"The Dream Walker," and those three words were all it took, after that, Scott was a flood of information, spilling out how he'd felt her presence and how he'd blocked his mind, forcing her out. "I could feel her Jean! I could hear her thoughts. 'So this is the mysterious Mr. Summers,' that's what she said!" Scott felt like he was five-years-old again. Jean draped her lanky arms around him, pulling him close, comforting him. Scott wanted to bury his face in her think mane of fiery hair and cry, but instead, he settled for lying in her arms as she murmured reassuring words in his ears.  
  
"Oh, Scott!" Jean whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I wanted to get things sorted out first," Scott started slowly, "I knew I'd eventually have to tell Professor X and I guess I figured I'd let him decide what to do next."  
  
"You still should have told me, you shouldn't have had to go through that alone."  
  
"I didn't want to drag you into this; you shouldn't have to bear my problems."  
  
"Their not your problems, Scott, They're all of ours. This Dream Walker, as you called her, is a threat to all the X-men. You and I are in this together whether you like it or not." Scott had to grin at Jean's set determination.  
  
"You sure you know what you're getting yourself into, Red?"  
  
"Hey Slim, anything you can handle is a piece of cake."  
  
Scott's laugh turned into a groan as he glanced at the time. "Geez, it's late. You should be getting some sleep, Miss Grey."  
  
Jean's face filled with unmasked apprehension at the thought of making another journey through the dark hall.  
  
"What's wrong?" Scott noted the fear in her face.  
  
"Logan's on patrol." She offered a weak smile.  
  
Scott sucked in his breath and deliberated her possible choices. A slow smile crept across his face. "Why don't you spend the night here?"  
  
"What?!" A look of incredulity spread across her face, "Scott! You know we can't, I'd be in worse trouble if Logan found out we'd slept in the same room than if he caught me now!"  
  
"Jean! Calm down! Look, you can sleep in my bed, I'll be on the floor, Professor X can read our minds if he doesn't believe us, we've got nothing to hide. Think about it, we can tell him you were comforting me and fell asleep here. It's going to be more suspicious if you're caught sneaking around the hallways after midnight."  
  
After a bit more pleading on Scott's behalf, Jean finally relented, and though she refused to take Scott's bed at first, he eventually won her over on that as well, assuring her he'd be more comfortable on the floor.  
  
Jean snuggled deep into the covers, inhaling the spicy scent of Scott's soap. She felt safe in his bed, it felt almost as if she were lying wrapped up in his arms . . .  
  
"Jean?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Good-night,"  
  
"Night, Scott."  
  
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	10. Saved by the Bell

A/N: Ok, so I didn't add as much romance as I intended, but there will be some eventually. Hm, don't know what's wrong with me, but for some reason I wrote John instead of Ray for Bezerker..anyways..Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! You guys don't know how much that means to me!  
  
~~~I don't own the X-men, sadly enough.  
  
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"Yah think Slim's tellin' the truth?" Logan questioned as he and the Professor strolled along the Institute grounds.  
  
"Oh, I have no doubt. Scott has had years of practice at identifying and blocking telepathic waves. If you'll recall, it was a game he and Jean often played when they were younger. If Scott believes that someone was penetrating his thoughts, I see no reason not to believe him."  
  
"Sure, that all makes sense if at some point in the day Summers thought someone was readin' his mind. But at Night? Correct me if I'm wrong, Chuck, but couldn't he have dreamt it?"  
  
"It's possible, yes, but Cerebro has noted a high mutant activity lately, and what with Mr. Alvers recently having his dream . . . well, I have no doubt that Scott's 'Dream Walker' is actually among us."  
  
Logan walked in silence while Professor Xavier rolled along beside him. They stopped alongside the basketball court where the boys had a heavily heated game going. Scott, Evan, Roberto, and Bobby had shed their shirts and were fighting intensely against the still shirted Kurt, Jamie, Ray, and Sam. The girls lounged about in the sun, some chatting while they watched the game with mild interest, some sunbathing, and still others pressed up against trees, confiding in the shade, deeply immersed in their novels. Jean had been talking animatedly with Amara and Jubilee when a crude "Head's up!" was yelled din their direction. Catching sight of the coming ball, Jean gave a casual flick of her hand, sending it sailing into the opposing basket. The "shirt" team cheered while the "skins" immediately began to argue that it wasn't a fair basket. The argument was settle, however, after Jamie (who had repeatedly been jostled to the ground, dividing into his many multiples) snagged the forgotten basketball and shot it smoothly into the basket, securing the shirts' lead.  
  
"When are you going to tell them?" Logan inquired, "You're going to tell them, aren't you, Charles? We don't want this escalating into another scene like the one with Darkholme."  
  
"Soon, I will tell them." Charles Xavier's voice was filled with a deadened weight, as he knew he was only prolonging the inevitable. "Just not yet."  
  
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"Eh, what's with Daniels and that hot new chick?" Toad asked as he hopped restlessly while the rest of the Brotherhood lounged casually in their usual corner of the hallway. "They goin' out or somethin'?"  
  
Hand-in-hand, Evan and Arisnoë strolled past the Brotherhood's lockers on their way to class. Every now and then Arisnoë would giggle slightly at some witty comment Evan had made.  
  
"What's the deal? Why would she pick him over me?" Toad whined.  
  
"Maybe it's because you only shower once a month." Lance rolled his eyes, and then, spotting Kitty, he yelled out "Later!" and ran to catch up with her.  
  
Pietro shook his head in disgust at the sight of seeing Lance making a fool of himself over Kitty. "The question's not 'why won't she go out with Toad.'" He turned his attention back to the matter at hand.  
  
"Uh, it's not?" Fred inquired stupidly.  
  
"No! It's why is she going out with Daniels instead of me? I'm suave, debonair, not to mention handsome. I'd have her swooning instead of giggling like a fourth-grader." The more he talked, the more Pietro began to convince himself. "What am I doing standing around and talking to you dolts? I've got a date with Daniels' new girl." He sped off down the hallway, leaving Fred and Todd gaping after him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*Moments Later*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Evan was standing around the corner, chatting with Arisnoë, when one of his least favorite people showed up. He let out a slight groan, then, rolling his eyes, he asked, "What do you want?"  
  
"What, Evan? Why do you always assume I want something? I'd simply like to converse with you and this lovely lady." Arisnoë tried to stifle a giggle, seeing the look of absolute fury building up on Evan's face. "I do believe Mr. Daniels ahs forgotten his manners." Pietro held out his hand. "I'm Pietro Maximoff, and you are?"  
  
"Arisnoë Summerlee." She relinquished her hand from Evan's grasp and offered it to Pietro who, instead of shaking (as she'd learned was a custom in America), he brought it gently to his lips.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Summerlee."  
  
Evan's face flushed with fury while Arisnoë's turned a similar shade of red from a mix of delight and embarrassment.  
  
"I don't suppose you're free this afternoon?"  
  
"Oh! No, I'm going to a movie with Evan." Her face glowed an even darker shade of red. "Perhaps, some other time?" She offered politely as the class warning bell rang in the distance.  
  
"C'mon, Ari, you don't want to be late to class." Evan wheeled her away from the mischievous Pietro, muttering under his breath "Saved by the bell."  
  
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	11. Mounting Terror

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this! All the pressure from exams, I've hardly had any time to write. At the moment I should be studying for the multiple exams I have next week, but after taking a break to read some new X-men Evo fics, I've decided I might as well post another chapter, seeing as how I'm not going to be getting much more studying done tonight. Anyways, hope you enjoy! And if you have any bashing to do, please refrain from reviewing until after the 17, but feel free to review evil comments after that, and definitely any other comments before hand . . . I could use some cheering up!  
  
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The crinkly material rustled as Tabitha pulled the tight skirt up past her thighs, admiring herself in Amara's full-length mirror. The two of them had grown awfully close since the girls had attempted to bond together, as their one chance to avoid being labeled as the "weaker sex." Tabitha generally got along with all the mutant girls, after Jean had proved she wasn't a complete "goody-goody," Tabitha had started hanging around with her and Amara more during school. The three of them had perfect balance together; Tabitha - the risk taker, Jean - the serious rule follower, and Amara who fit in the middle, holding the two together. It was an odd grouping, but that's why they liked it so much, all three of them hated being predictable.  
  
"I'm beginning to hate it over there," Tabitha spoke conversationally as she pulled her wild blonde hair into two messy buns at the top of her head. "Ever since the queen got back with her little witch of a princess - no offense," she cast a hasty glance at the real princess sitting on the bed beside her, flipping through an old Seventeen issue.  
  
"None taken," she shrugged her shoulders carelessly.  
  
"I get most of my info off of Lance now, since I've been hanging around here more than there, so who knows if it's trustworthy." Tabitha was now pulling on a midriff revealing pink shirt that matched perfectly with the slinky black skirt. "But 'parently Mystic has some new little weapon that she keeps braggin' 'bout, but the guys don't know what."  
  
"More powerful than Wanda?" A silky voice questioned disbelievingly from the doorway, causing both Amara and Tabitha to jump. Neither of them had noticed Jean standing in the doorway.  
  
Tabitha was about to make some light remark, but noting the seriousness in Jean's face she shrugged. "Guess so."  
  
Jean bit back her lip. Amara looked at her sympathetically, she could tell Jean didn't want to respond but she'd do would she had to do - even if it meant infuriating the mistress of destruction. "Tabby, you need to talk to the professor. Now."  
  
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When Jean had pulled the bewildered Tabitha out of Amara's room, the two girls had been in the middle of their "therapy" session. Once a week the two girls got together (occasionally joined by Jean) to exchange clothes, make-up, magazines, and gossip. So now Tabitha stood huffily in front of the professor wearing a tight mini-skirt, a much too revealing top, and heavy amounts of make-up.  
  
"You said that Mystique has been bragging about a new weapon, correct?" The professor stared intently at Tabitha's confused expression.  
  
"Yeah, that's what Lance told me."  
  
"Has Mr. Alvers said anything else about this weapon?"  
  
"Nah, just that Mystic, or whatever, seemed overly pleased about this one. Almost more excited than when she brought home that Scarlet Wench." Tabitha noted with pleasure that more than one person winced at her appalling language.  
  
"Professor, you don't think this could be the dream walker, do you?" Jean questioned nervously, hovering in the doorway.  
  
He sighed, "Jean, would you please summon the other students? I'll meet you in the common room."  
  
As Jean quickly nodded and vanished from the room, Charles Xavier dismissed Tabitha with a nod and turned to Logan, "I fear that now is the time to tell them."  
  
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The unusual disarray of mutants sat uneasily in the living room. Each one was slowly being frightened into a state of apprehensive terror at the sight of a disoriented jean beckoning them to the common living area. Jean, who was always so calm and collective, sat huddled in her corner of the long couch, Scott's arm draped protectively around her as his concerned eye kept hold of her.  
  
Kitty, Rogue, Tabitha (who'd refused to leave, claiming that she had a part in this after bringing the message to Xavier), Amara, and Jubilee were sprawled on the ground as the boys had snagged most of the chairs.  
  
By the time the professor, Logan, Ororo, and Hank had entered, the students had turned themselves into burning nervous energy. Each one began talking at once; only to fall silent again as the Professor raised a commanding hand.  
  
"I'm not sure what all of you have heard, but I will ask you all to put previous information and any questions from your mind until after I have finished what I need to say. If, when I am through, you still have any lingering questions, I will be happy to answer them the best that I can." Professor Xavier paused, only too well aware of how much he sounded like someone preparing to give a lecture in front of an audience of high school students in their school auditorium. "A month ago, many of your fellow students began to have disturbed dreams, dreams that were not their own. These dreams, it appears, were being entered and altered by what we have come to call a 'Dream Walker.' She is a powerful mutant, whom we believe has been enrolled by Mystique, who has been entering others dreams and changing them, hoping to instill fear and paranoia into those mutants who hold up the foundation of the Institute."  
  
Many of the students froze at this statement, exchanging bewildered and frightened looks with others just as confused as they. Scott's arm tightened around Jean as a silent sob raked through her body. Kurt's eyes flamed with an apoplectic rage at the one who was tearing apart the souls of his friends. And at the mention of the distorted dreams, Kitty's eyes filled with tears as her lips mouthed the single word, "Lance."  
  
"I do not mean to frighten you, but what you need to understand is that this 'Dream Walker' is a growing threat to all of the students at the Institute. We have reason to believe that she is residing in Bayville; she may even be attending your school. Logan, Ororo, Hank, and I are planning a mission to put a stop to this mutant's terror. But until then, we advise you to practice blocking out your minds like we've taught you, and we expect you all to be on your guard. That means no being lax about security. Do not do anything that may reveal your powers." Was it everyone's imagination? Or did the Professor's gaze happen to linger a little while longer on Evan and Kurt as he said that?  
  
"Professor?" Kitty raised her shaking hand into the air. "If this mutant has been, like, drafted by Mystique . . ." she swallowed, trying to force the words out. "Then why has the 'Dream Walker' been in Lance's dreams?"  
  
The Professor knit his brows together in thought. "Why indeed."  
  
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Dun, dun, dun~~~ Hope you all liked it! Pllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeee review!!!!! 


	12. I'm With You

A/N: Ack, another fairly short chapter, sorry about that, but I've been spending the whole day studying for exams, so I wasn't able to write much more. . . plus I thought this made a fairly good ending to a chapter. So, I hope you all like it! Probably only 1 or 2 more chapters left~~~  
  
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Miniscule pebbles pelted the grimy window, sending puff-clouds of dust into the crisp night air. Shaking his long, shaggy hair, Lance groggily sat up and stumbled over to his window, tripping over the many piles of disregarded school-work and forgotten laundry. Placing his fingers beneath the pane, Lance pulled as hard as he could, lifting the window above his head, just in time for a single pebble to miss the moved window and hit him square on his nose. "What the -" he cursed bitterly beneath his breath.  
  
"Lance?" The girlish squeak was barely a whisper to Lance's ears, but it was all it took. Just the murmur of her voice caused his rock solid heart to melt.  
  
"Kitty?" As hard as he tried, Lance could not sustain the eagerness in his voice.  
  
"Lance," Kitty started hurriedly, "Is it ok if we come up? We need to talk to you."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Kurt and I."  
  
"Figures," Lance muttered to himself, disgust replacing his mild interest. It wasn't that Lance didn't like Kurt - after all, how could anyone dislike the fuzzy elf? - But Lance knew how much Kurt had liked Kitty when the girl first arrived at the Institute, and even though Wagner had a girlfriend now, Lance couldn't help but feel jealous when he saw Kurt and Kitty together. "Sure, but wouldn't it be easier if I came-" *bamf* "down?" Lance glanced sheepishly about his room, "sorry, if I'd known I was gonna have guests I would have cleaned-" he broke off his light humor at the sight of Kitty's tearstained face. "Kitty? Is everything okay?"  
  
"Nein. If everything vas okay do you think ve vould be here?" Kurt spat bitterly.  
  
Lance eyed him warily, "I wasn't asking you, blue-boy."  
  
"Ja, vell at least my room doesn't reek like ze city dump."  
  
"No, yours reeks like a sulfur mine!"  
  
"Oh, would you two quit it out!" Kitty stomped her foot in irritation, forgetting to keep her voice down.  
  
The boys dropped their argument at once, furious with themselves for letting their inane argument escalate to such a stage.  
  
"Look, we're all tense, but Kurt, if you remember, there's a reason we're here and it's not to argue." Kitty's fists were clenched at her sides.  
  
Lance and Kurt exchanged glances. "Somehow I've got a feeling that she's not here to invite me on a midnight stroll either."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Later On*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sitting in the comfort of Lance's jeep, Kitty and Kurt took turns explaining the dilemma to Lance.  
  
"So this girl is like, a total threat to all the mutants at the Institute. Professor X and Logan are planning on having us confront her, seeing as how she's already been in Jean's dreams twice and min and Kurt's once. And Tabby said that you said that Mystique had some new secret weapon, and the Professor thinks that this 'weapon' is the 'dream walker.'" Kitty paused to take a breath.  
  
"Ja, but vhat ve don't know is vhy the 'dream valker' has been in your dream."  
  
Lance turned his head away. "Maybe it's because I haven't been all that faithful to the Brotherhood. Maybe she wants to frighten me enough so that I stop hanging around with you all and start hanging more with the bros. Or maybe it's because I've strayed once, tried to join the 'X-men' and she's afraid I'll do it again. It's not like I know. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not high on Mystique's list of favorite people."  
  
Kitty laced her fingers through Lance's, giving his hand a comforting squeeze, causing him to look back to her troubled yet consoling face.  
  
Kurt sighed, "I hate to break ze mushy moment, but ve need an answer. Either you are vith us, or you are not. Vhich is it going to be?"  
  
Lance looked into Kitty's eyes, overflowing with her love for him, and sighed, turning his gaze to Kurt's apologetic face. "I'm with you."  
  
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	13. The Begining of the End

A/N: Looooooooooong chapter, the longest one yet, my apologies, but I figured you folks deserved it after the three week delay. Though this is long, its not that great, b/c, I must admit, I'm not very good at writing battle scenes, and this ends up being a bit more depressing than I had hoped for, but oh well, I just go where my muse takes me. Hope you all like it! Just this and the epilogue left!  
  
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Sunlight streamed through a prism hanging in the window, sending rainbows dancing merrily across the richly painted room. Sighing, Arisnoë sat on the elegantly carved window seat, her chin resting delicately in her hands, her elbows propped up on the window sill as she appraised the sight before her. Not a cloud marred the blue canvas sky, allowing the sun to shine brightly over Bayville. Arisnoë had never seen such a beautiful day. Sure, there were times in Saudi Arabia when the sun had shone in a cloudless sky, but that just made the barren desert all the more unbearable. Here, there was green everywhere, drinking in the sun's golden light and radiating in the glorious magnificence of it all. 'I've never really appreciated life until now.' Arisnoë thought to herself, smiling, 'I've never really appreciated it until Evan showed me how much there is to live for.' She turned her head away from the window, watching as the rainbows danced across her room. She was captivated by the splendor of the rainbows. Who could ever imagine that so many colors were held by light and that all you needed to find them was a piece of glass?  
  
Slowly the rainbows began to fade, taking the raw beauty from the lifeless room. Arisnoë glanced anxiously out the window, knowing that in order for the light to die away, something had to be covering the sun, but what could it be? Hadn't she determined just moments ago that there wasn't a cloud in the sky? Her breath caught in her throat as a jagged bolt of lightening sliced across the sky, followed by a distant clap of thunder. "The Weather Witch," she moaned bitterly. Raven had warned her about Storm, and Arisnoë had seen the images in others' minds, she knew the danger this woman was capable of.  
  
Closing her eyes, Arisnoë inhaled deeply, focusing her thoughts on Raven. When she thought their two minds made the connection, she quickly projected an image of Storm drawing nearer, cosing in on her sanctuary. (A/N: For those of you who are confused, Arisnoë can only project images and see images from others' minds. She's not telepathic. But she can pick up words and emotions from these dreams - much like when Jonas receives the memories in "The Giver") After projecting the image, Arisnoë saw a scene of a boy clad in green armor moving swiftly across town towards her carefully hidden home. Opening her eyes, Arisnoë felt hope rising within her. Raven was sending over the other mutants! Perhaps there was a chance of survival after all.  
  
********************************Meanwhile*******************************  
  
'This is it, we're finally going to get rid of the Dream Walker!'  
  
'That b**** is finally going to get what she deserves!'  
  
'What's rock tumbler doing here?'  
  
'Hehe, Goggle-boy looks so thrilled to see me.'  
  
'He's not mad at me, is he?'  
  
'Vhat is taking so long?'  
  
The thoughts bounced around Jean's head, none of which were hers, but she didn't bother trying to control it - emotions were running too high, there was no way she could block out every thought in the anxiety filled room.  
  
The X-men all looked so professional in their streamlined uniforms, leaving Lance to look slightly out of place in his bulky homemade one, and Tabitha in her "Sirens" outfit. But if either one of them noticed, they didn't show it. The way they were lounging around, chatting, and laughing nervously, anyone could have sworn that they were just another X-man.  
  
A silent hush fell over the assembled crowd as Xavier wheeled into the room, "I fear there is no delaying this any longer." He spoke regretfully, "but I do hope that by handling this maturely we can prevent a war. Scott, Jean, and Kurt will teleport to this girl's home. You will try to talk to her as if you were talking to a new recruit for the first time; like you did with Evan and Kitty. If she shows any signs of resistance, or tries to enter your minds, or inflict harm on you in any way, have Kurt teleport back and the rest of us will take the jet over. Storm has created a simulated storm over that area so no one will notice the high level of activity." He looked at Scott as though he was expecting some form of protest. "Understood?" They nodded. "Very well then, off with you."  
  
The three students gathered together and disappeared into a puff of blue smoke, leaving the rest of the Institute waiting fretfully behind.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Ah, I can't take much more of this, they ain't gonna show." Toad hopped nervously back and forth across Arisnoë's bedroom as she eyed him with distrustful distaste.  
  
"Don't worry, if the boss lady said they'd show, then they'll show." Pietro leaned casually against the door.  
  
"What I want to know is what happened to Avalanche?"  
  
Pietro shrugged, "Who knows? Personally, sis, I think he got cold feet. Alvers never did have the stomach for this stuff. He's always been a poser."  
  
"God, you are daft!" Wanda rolled her eyes, falling back onto Arisnoë's king-sized bed.  
  
Arisnoë slowly rose from her place on the velvet window seat. "I zink she means zat zis 'Avalanche' isn't frightened."  
  
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think that? What do you know about Lance?"  
  
She bit her lip at the cruelty in his voice. Hadn't this boy been asking her out just a few days ago? "I know zat he loves zat ozzer girl, zis 'Kitty', and zat he would do anyzing for her, even give his own life. A man like zat is not often afraid of petty things like zis."  
  
As Pietro eyed her coolly, trying to figure the girl out, Fred turned to Toad and muttered bewilderedly, "I always thought Lance was our leader . . ."  
  
"Hey, hey! What's that?" Toad hopped excitedly by the window as a puff of blue smoke materialized outside.  
  
"That," Pietro stated elatedly, "is our cue." And with that, he raced out of the room, the others lumbering behind him.  
  
*******************************Meanwhile********************************  
  
Landing on a street filled with heavy fog, Scott, Jean, and Kurt peered around uneasily. "Vell, ve're here, ve might as vell do vhat ve came here to do . . ."  
  
"Kurt's right. C'mon, Jean," Scott strode toward the intricately carved mahogany door, preparing to ring the scarlet coated doorbell, when suddenly the gilded handle turned and the door opened on its own, revealing the one person no one had expected to see.  
  
"Miss me, Summers?"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
*Bamf* "Professor! The Brotherhood!"  
  
Charles started. "The Brotherhood? You're sure?"  
  
"Ja, Quiksilver opened the door. Ve are going to need some help. I think negotiations are out of the question."  
  
The professor sighed, "Alright, Kurt, take the trained X-men with you, the rest of us will follow in the jet."  
  
Rogue, Evan, Kitty, Lance, and Tabitha gathered around Kurt as the newer recruits groaned in protest, mumbling about how unfair the ordeal was, though they followed the professor none-the-less.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Evan inquired rudely, staring at Tabitha. "You're not trained!"  
  
"Hey," Lance intervened. "The Klepto stays; she'll be more help than you will, spike-boy."  
  
"Hey, I don't need a guy to stand up for me, Alvers, you better watch it."  
  
Turning to Kurt, Rogue rolled her eyes, "Can we just get outta here already? Before them three start their own war?"  
  
Kurt gave a curt nod, getting the other 5 to huddle together, praying that they'd arrive in time to help the stranded Jean and Scott.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"What. Do. You. Think. Is. Taking them. So. Long?" Jean managed to gasp out while attempting to suspend Blob with her telekinesis.  
  
"No idea." Cyclops shot Blob out of Jean's grasp with his optic blast, turning his focus on the circling Quiksilver.  
  
"Can't catch me, one-eye." Quiksilver shouted as he spun dizzy circles around the duo.  
  
Cyclops shot frustrated blasts at the boy, leaving scorched dentin the previously smooth road.  
  
"That's not helping!" Jean, who normally would have endeavored to telekinetically impede her opponent, had learned from her last encounter with Quiksilver that this would only make matters worse. Cyclops, apparently, had forgotten that the arrogant boy was theoretically unstoppable.  
  
"We haven't even seen the Dream Walker yet!"  
  
"Dream Walker?" Blob stood up, revealing the body cast he had left in Arisnoë's front lawn, and scratched his head in confusion. (A/N: Why is scratching your head a symbol of confusion?)  
  
"Heh, he means Tantalus." Toad blew his cover (he had bee sneaking up on Cyclops) by opening his mouth. Jean whirled around, sending a TK blast at Toad.  
  
"Thanks!" Scott yelled, shaking his head at the near miss.  
  
"No problem, though it will be if Nightcrawler doesn't show up soon!"  
  
At that precise moment, a distinct aroma of sulfur wafted through the air, followed by a puff of blue smoke. "So, how much have ve missed?" Kurt, Kitty, Lance, Evan, Rogue, and Tabitha stood on the pavement, surveying the sight before them.  
  
"Apparently a lot." Shadowcat mused, staring at the mold of Fred's enormous outline in the flattened grass.  
  
"But we're not too late," Spyke added, sending a spike sailing through Toad's shirt, nailing him to a tree.  
  
"Hey! Lemme down! You stupid porcupine!" He swiped at the spike, trying to free himself.  
  
With the new mutants having arrived, along with the Brotherhood's leader turned traitor, the cowardly group began to retreat.  
  
"Woohoo!" Shadowcat cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "Can this get any easier?"  
  
"Don't you mean harder?" A surly feminine voice rang out.  
  
The X-men turned to see the Scarlet Witch descending from Arisnoë's bedroom window.  
  
"Oh man! We're in trouble now!" Evan groaned.  
  
"You said it."  
  
With the sudden appearance of the Scarlet Witch, the lacking battle rapidly raged on.  
  
"Yo, Avalanche!" Quiksilver slowed long enough to pause in front of a stony-looking Avalanche. "What gives? Turning on us again? You know the boss doesn't welcome back traitors."  
  
"Who said I wanted to be welcomed back?" Avalanche clenched his fists, sending a roll through the ground, knocking Quiksilver off his feet. "Jean! Now!"  
  
Jean focused her energy on the fallen terror, lifting him in the air and positioning him against the brick wall, allowing Spyke to pin him to it.  
  
"Hey! Let me go!" He struggled to no avail.  
  
"Score!" Spyke shot passed on his skateboard, slapping Avalanche's hand as he passed.  
  
Avalanche smirked at the squirming Quiksilver. "Tell the boss I said 'hi'."  
  
"Y'know," Cyclops turned his head towards Nightcrawler without taking his eyes of the mêlée. "I had my doubts, but it looks like Avalanche may have actually changed for the best."  
  
"Ja, it looks that vay, but he vas the leader of the Brotherhood, vhy vould he give that up for a team that may never trust him?"  
  
"You've got a point there, ah!" Cyclop's blasts suddenly slipped away from his target of the Scarlet Witch and were being aimed towards Shadowcat. "Shadowcat! Watch out!"  
  
Kitty whirled around, preparing to phase as the red beam penetrated her body, when Lance dove, attempting to push her out of the way, only to find himself soaring through her translucent body. "Ow!" He landed with a loud smack against the pavement, causing Kitty to giggle. "Hey," he rubbed his shoulder, "It's not funny."  
  
As hard as she tried to maintain a serious face, Kitty could not stifle her bursts of laughter. "I'm," gasp, "sorry." She laughed harder. "As sweet as it is," she smiled as he waited patiently for her to finish, "you can't keep trying to save me. I can totally handle myself. Besides, you could, like, get hurt again." At that she began to giggle again until Lance tugged sharply on her ankle, pulling her to the ground with him as another beam narrowly missed her head.  
  
"Seems like your not always right," Lance smirked as Kitty nodded meekly, staring at the charred tree, only paces behind where she had been standing moments before.  
  
"Cyclops, like, cut it out already!"  
  
"I can't!" He staggered backwards, trying to regain control of his powers.  
  
A sigh was emitted somewhere behind him. "I'm really sorry 'bout this, Scott." Rogue grabbed the back of his bare neck with her ungloved hand.  
  
The disastrous light coming from his eyes flickered and died as he let out a moan and sank to the ground, slipping out of consciousness.  
  
Rogue removed her hand and stared down at the beautiful boy lying unmoving on the cold pavement. Turning her gaze from Cyclops to the Witch still wreaking havoc in the sky, her vision was filled with a heavy red mist as her anger built. "This is all yer fault, Witch!" She shrieked, preparing to blast Wanda from the sky.  
  
"No," A commanding voice filled with terrible sadness projected from the doorway, it iz mine."  
  
All of the mutants, X-men and Brotherhood alike, turned to face the cloaked and hooded creature.  
  
"Tantalus!" Quicksilver yelled from his place still positioned on the wall, "What are you doing out here? Mystique said for you to stay inside!"  
  
Tantalus raised her glimmering eyes to Pietro's ice cold ones. "Zis is my fault, I 'ave caused all of zis and I 'ave come to correct it."  
  
"I know that voice," Evan muttered softly, causing Kurt to study him curiously. Out of the blue, Rogue's voice ricocheted across his mind. "'I zank you for you kindness'". 'No, it can't be,' Evan could feel panic rising within him. But Evan's worst fears were confirmed as Tantalus rose her hooded head, and he caught a flicker of gold reflecting the rare sunlight. 'Her cross necklace . . . no, no, it can't be here!"  
  
"Ah, vhat's a 'Tantalus'?" Nightcrawler whispered.  
  
"Tantalus, temptress or tempter, is part of a Greek Myth." Kitty explained. "Tantalus offended the God's in some major way, so the condemned him to a life of eternal hunger and thirst. He stood in a pool in Tartarus, the Underworld's place of punishment, and each time he reached down to drink some of the water it drained away. There was also branches above the pool loaded with fruit, but each time Tantalus tried to grab some, the branches moved from his grasp. So he was always tempted. And I guess that's her power, to tempt us."  
  
"Ah, so is she the Dream Valker?"  
  
"That would be my guess."  
  
"And she can enter our thoughts?" Tabitha popped up beside the duo, shortly followed by Jean.  
  
"Well, technically she can only see and project images . . ." Jean clarified.  
  
"So, she can enter our thoughts," Boom Boom stated again.  
  
Jean shrugged, "Basically."  
  
"We. Are so- dead."  
  
"Yup."  
  
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It was like some horrible dream. The kind that starts of pleasantly, but it ends in a terror-ish nightmare. You know you're dreaming, but as hard as you try you can't wake up. You scream until your voice is hoarse and your throat is parched but no one can hear you. And when the dream reaches its horrific climax and all you want is for it to end, it slows down to an almost rewound rate, almost as if time is moving backwards.  
  
With the additional challenge that Tantalus offered the X-men, the war continued on into the night. Enraged by the amount of attention her enemies were focusing on Tantalus, the Scarlet Witch began hurtling objects at Scott's still unconscious body which Kurt had teleported to a semi-safe ditch at the side of the extravagant house.  
  
"Stop!" Jean shrieked, firing a TK blast at Wand who deftly shielded herself. "You could kill him!" Her mounting vexed anger was lucid.  
  
Sensing Jean's deadly rage, Tantalus turned, sending her an image of she and Scott embracing on a white sandy beach. Jean staggered off, feeling dazed and confused, leaving her vulnerable to the Scarlet Witch's wicked wrath.  
  
Attention roused by Jean's pained cry - after being struck by the blunt end of a flying spade - Nightcrawler 'ported into the air and grabbed Wanda's waist, breaking her concentration.  
  
As the two toppled from the dusky canvas of a sky, the debris that had continuously encircled Wanda's body flew off at odd angles. A brick narrowly missed Kitty and Lance's heads, worn-out gloves smacked Jean's glazed over face, and a faded watering can landed with a thud on the grass next to Scott. But the most deadly weapon of all seemed propelled by a higher power, the saw's sharp blades glinted in the moon's celestial light as it sped towards a heavy tree limb positioned strategically over Evan's unprotected head.  
  
Breaking free of the tree, the limb slowly began to fall and those who saw it stood frozen, a dull buzzing filling their brains, impairing their thinking process, preventing them from any course of action.  
  
What happened next happened so fast that the others had a hard time believing it. A scream pierced the still night air as Arisnoë dove forward, slamming into Evan's buff body and sending him sprawling to the ground just beyond the tree.  
  
Images of Evan as a street skater in New York came spiraling into her mind. She could picture him so clearly, soaring down the street, weaving in and out of cars, his helmet strap tight under his chin, the wheels of his skateboard swerving on the tarred pavement.  
  
"Arisnoë!" Evan's voice shattered the silence and she was bombarded by images of his love for her.  
  
"I love you too, Evan," she whispered to him, projecting her love into his mind as the branch hit her skull with a resounding crack, and then there was only darkness.  
  
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	14. Epilogue

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Epilogue  
  
It's funny how life goes on while you're stuck in this twisted and tortured dream. When you realize that normal people have gone on with their normal lives and this nightmare hasn't made the slightest dent in their lives, you want to scream at the world. "Don't you get it? Don't you realize what's happened? Don't you care?" Then you break down and cry, and you begin to wish that you were one of those people instead of the tortured soul you are now. You want life to move on; you want to forget that this ever happened. But you can't. It's there every time you eat, sleep, or breathe. The memory is there haunting you and you can't be rid of it. You're lost on your own, uncertain about your distant future, afraid that for you, life will never be normal again.  
  
Lance's arms encircled Kitty's waist as they watched Evan cradle Arisnoë's head in his lap. Jean sat stroking Scott's tousled hair as he began to stir. Kurt let go of Wanda's writhing body as the Brotherhood vacated the premises. Tabitha stood trembling, her arms wrapped around herself as if to reignite her lifeless body. Rogue turned away from the site, wiping a tear from her heavily made-up eye. They all stood in silence observing the horrific site before them.  
  
Evan let the tear slide down his cheek, leaving one clean stripe on his dust covered face. Arisnoë had died to save him, it was up to him to prove that she had died for a worthy cause.  
  
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That's the end, there isn't any more. I kind of hate to leave it like that, I hate sad endings. . . anyways, hope you all liked it! Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing it! Oh, btw, if someone would like to review to this and tell me what an AU fic is, or how to italicize or bold things, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!!  
  
~Lauren 


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